Beginning with cavemen huddled around their open fires, countless generations have derived warmth and security from wood fires. This tradition has been carried forward into the modern home, where the burning logs in the fireplace often provide figurative warmth in excess of the actual caloric content of the fuel. As firewood has become increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain, people have turned to burning synthetic fire logs in their fireplaces. One common type of synthetic log is fabricated from a mixture composed of up to 60% wax and 40% sawdust or other fibers.
While synthetic logs of the wax variety are highly satisfactory in producing a visually acceptable fire, they are still possessed of certain problems that often render their use less than wholly satisfactory. As the log burns, the heat causes wax in the log to melt and run out of the log. As the molten wax drips down beneath the burning log, toward the fireplace floor, it burns in a generally uncontrolled manner, sometimes splattering globules of burning wax around the fireplace area in a dangerous manner. The log is consumed in a relatively short time, often breaking apart in the process. The burning log thus generates a considerable amount of smoke, odor, and residue. Additionally, while some logs are treated to provided colored flames, the high temperatures resulting from the uncontrolled burning reduce the effectiveness of the treatment, causing the colors to be produced over only a small part of the burning cycle.
Nevertheless, wax impregnated synthetic fire logs have found widespread use, to the point where approximately 72,000,000 such logs are consumed annually in the United States. In fact, the demand is such that production of the wax, originally considered a waste product from oil refining operations, must be supplemented by resort to more expensive sources. The problems, including short burning life, large smoke production, and possible dangers from the uncontrolled burn have been accepted as inevitable.